


fingers in your feathers, back against the wind

by starberrylemonade



Series: re-learning to fly [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Sneaking Around, Tanaka is there for like a line, The more i write tlg the more like a gremlin he becomes, Volleyball, akiteru being a bit of a mess, breaking into a gym at 3 am, but its like one line, kei and tadashi appear but dont speak, mention of past akisae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 20:34:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20159689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starberrylemonade/pseuds/starberrylemonade
Summary: Akiteru’s phone buzzes.It’s exactly three am when he rolls over and glares tiredly at the ‘Tenma <3’ on the screen, but picks up anyway with the kindest ‘what’ he can.“Five minutes. I’m outside,” is all he hears before the line goes dead.





	fingers in your feathers, back against the wind

Akiteru’s phone buzzes.

It’s exactly three am when he rolls over and glares tiredly at the ‘Tenma <3’ on the screen, but picks up anyway with the kindest _ ‘what _’ he can.

“_ Five minutes. I’m outside, _” is all he hears before the line goes dead. Akiteru stares at the screen until it goes black. Tenma usually stayed up late. Sometimes he’d get a text at four am ranting about some volleyball game (why was he watching those so late?), and sometimes he’d call late at night (never past ten, they agreed. Kei went to bed early) but there had never been, until now, a startling combo of the two.

His phone buzzes again.

_ Tenma <3 _

_ 3:04am _

_ Get down here!!! _

“Better be important,” Akiteru mutters to his dark room, fumbling around for his jacket and only hitting the wall once on the way down the stairs. 

He opens the door as quietly as he can and comes face to face with Tenma, hair pulled back into a ponytail, giant smirk on his face. 

“What,” Akiteru pauses, rubbing his eyes. “What is going on?”

“We’re going to break into Karasuno’s gym and play volleyball,” he says, proudly brandishing the keys. Akiteru’s mouth opens. Closes. 

_ What? _

“Tenma, where--where did you _ get _ these, did you _ steal _ them?!” 

His eyes go wide. 

“What? No! Oh my god, no. Tanaka-san gave them to me.”

Akiteru decides it’s best to not ask where Saeko got them. She had a tendency to do wild, spontaneous things with questionable materials on their dates.

Huh, maybe he has a type.

Tenma grabs his arm and tugs him down the street, bouncing every step of the way. Akiteru stumbles over the cracks in the sidewalk and even more over his words as they go.

“So, um. Do you, uh. Do you usually er,” he begins eloquently. Tenma playfully shoves him. 

“You’re not a morning person, are you?” 

“I _ am _ a morning person,” he huffs. “I’m just not an awake-at-three-am-person,” he finishes, yawning to emphasize his point. Tenma snorts. 

“Do I usually break into my old high school’s gym to play volleyball in the middle of the night? No. But I really needed to get up and move, you know? I felt like if I didn’t touch a volleyball soon, I’d burst.” 

Tenma shoves his hands into his pockets.

“Besides, I never got to do this kind of thing back then. Better late than never right?”

He finishes with a dazzling smile which Akiteru returns wholeheartedly. 

\---

The lock clicks and Tenma sucks in a breath through his teeth as the door slams open with a loud thud. 

“_ Yikes _,” he whispers. 

“_ Oof _,” Akiteru responds around a giggle. 

They both wince as the lights click on, shining past their bodies into the night. Tenma closes the door behind him, shoes in hand, and books it towards the storage closet. 

Akiteru has about two seconds to ready himself before the volleyball cart is careening at him, Tenma already asking for a toss. 

“Calm down and let me warm up first," Akiteru shouts, rolling his shoulders back. Tenma does a few laps in the meantime, tapping Akiteru on the shoulder every time he passes. 

\---

He still feels the rush in his veins when Tenma spikes the ball. Watching him from the bench and watching him from a toss is two completely different experiences. The connection between the toss and the hit takes his breath away as Tenma runs by him like a gust of wind. Akiteru is used to the hard feeling of spiking, but he’s slowly becoming familiar with the sensation of a softer touch on the ball, gently raising off of his fingertips. 

“Hey do you wanna switch?” Tenma asks after a few good sets. Akiteru lets out a long _ ‘uhhhhh’ _ as Tenma picks up the ball, spins it between his hands, and tosses it.

He jumps to spike, but it goes past his hand and bangs into the door. Tenma cringes. Akiteru laughs so hard he has to sit down. 

Akiteru does a few receives, (screaming, sometimes, at Tenma’s impressive jump serves that almost take his head off) and then Tenma does (diving, also screaming, for the ball that falls just short of the net) before they take a break on the bench, shoulders touching. Akiteru notices the way Tenma’s head just barely comes up to his shoulder, wavy hair bouncing as he talks animatedly. His hand shoots out to imitate a pass or a spike he saw on TV and Akiteru has to duck. It’s familiar and not all at once. It’s new and exciting and strangely domestic. 

It’s nice.

Tenma’s eyes are on him and he’s quiet. Akiteru blinks. He realizes, now, just how close he is, and just how beautiful Tenma’s eyes are. They’re a deep sort-of gray color, like a storm on the horizon, and he never noticed how they shine. 

Those eyes close and the lips pressing against his own are soft. 

Akiteru’s hands come up to run through Tenma’s hair, untying the ponytail at the nape of his neck and threading his fingers through the dark waves. 

Tenma pulls away slowly, eyes shining ever brighter, face red. 

“Thank you,” he whispers. 

“For?”

“For giving me the joy of volleyball back.” 

Akiteru’s mouth drops open. Surely, anyone else could have given him that. Hinata was the reason he came to the gym in the first place, right? Saeko’s excitement must have started something in him, even. 

Tenma takes his hand, and Akiteru notices the way his heart leaps up into his throat.

“Thank you for giving me that spark back. Thank you for waking up at three am and following me to the gym because I _ needed _ to move or I would shut down. Thank you for listening to me ramble on forever about volleyball matches when you haven’t seen them and have no idea what’s going on.”

Tenma tucks a stray piece of hair behind his ear.

“Thank you for tossing me that first ball in the gym after Karasuno’s match. I…” 

“Tenma?”

“I’m really _ really _ happy, Akiteru.” 

The smile Tenma gives him following that simple confession is blinding, breathtaking, beautiful. Akiteru leans in for another kiss, full of warmth. When Tenma presses their foreheads together and laughs, wholeheartedly and unashamed, Akiteru’s world comes together. 

After a moment Tenma begins running around the gym, yelling excitedly and jumping high into the air. He runs a lap and then collapses on the bench, face in his hands, bright red. 

“You good?” Akiteru asks, unsuccessfully swallowing a laugh.

“Yeah,” Tenma squeaks out, leaning on Akiteru’s shoulder. 

\---

They’re cleaning up the gym when they hear voices outside. They share a panicked look (Tenma, hands hovering over the cart, and Akiteru, fisting his hair anxiously), grab their shoes and run out the door, trying not to scream (Akiteru) or laugh (Tenma). They hide behind a tree, panting, as the voices get closer.

“Uh, Tanaka the door’s unlocked.”

_ Shit. _

Tenma has his hands over Akiteru’s mouth before he can panic into hysteria.

“Huh? Maybe Kageyama and Hinata forgot to lock it last night. I wouldn’t be surprised.” 

Tenma peeks his head out from their hiding spot just as Tanaka gives them a wink before toeing off his shoes and stepping into the gym. Akiteru lets out a wheeze, slapping his hand over his heart. 

They sneak behind the building before the other kids can spot them and start running down the street towards the Tsukishima residence. 

Kei is just leaving the house with Tadashi not far behind and Akiteru yanks Tenma into a nearby bush. They fall ungracefully, and he’s pretty sure Kei noticed him, but he’s already committed to the hydrangeas. After he’s absolutely sure Tadashi’s voice is out of earshot he pulls Tenma up by the hood and takes his hand to walk the remaining five feet to the front of his house. 

“Sorry I kept you up all night,” Tenma says.

“It’s okay, I don’t have work today anyway,” Akiteru replies, pulling a twig out of his hair. “It was actually kinda fun.” 

Akiteru shifts his weight from foot to foot.

“Do you wanna come inside? I can make some eggs or something?”

“That’d be awesome,” Tenma replies with a sigh, and the sight of his face against the morning sun is blinding. 

**Author's Note:**

> Im doing my best to write them well ;;;;  
Me writing kisses: wow their lips sure do touch huh
> 
> Tumblr: starryeydsailor


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